Sole edge holder for ski bindings



y 969 v N. 'r. FORZELIUS 3,456,958

SOLE EDGE HOLDER FOR SKI BINDINGS Filed July 11. 1 9 67 INVENTOR.

/V. 7 Forze/[us Gilda- ATTom eg United States Patent m 3,456,958 SOLE EDGE HOLDER FOR SKI BINDINGS Nils T. Forzelius, Brunerno, Valleutuna, Sweden Filed July 11, 1967, Ser. No. 652,576 Int. Cl. A63c 9/085 US. Cl. 280-1135 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sole ed-ge holder for safety ski bindings is shown. It includes an edge holder plate which is pivotally connected to the sole support of the ski binding. An upper gripping member is abuttable with the upper edge of the sole and a lower holding member overlies and bears against a heel cable. The heel cable is biased upwardly against a first support and supported upon a second support. The heel cable forces the edge holder plate against the upper edge of the sole.

This invention relates to a sole edge holder for ski bindings. The holder of this invention is particularly useful where the sole support of the ski binding is laterally adjustable.

The conventional ski binding contains hold-down hooks for the sole edges of the ski boot which is attached to the binding. These hooks contain height adjustment means (such as screws or the like) in order to adjust the sole edge holder to the thickness of the sole of the ski boot. This is necessary in order that the ski binding firmly grip the ski boot.

Unfortunately, the conventional adjusting mechanism is cumbersome since it requires screwing of the hooks adjusting the height, and subsequently fastening the hooks.

The invention set forth in this application avoids the disadvantages inherent in conventional structures. Contrar y to the conventional structure, the sole edge holders automatically adjust to the thickness of the sole of the ski boot, but at the same time, create a firm clamping force against the ski boot.

The invention may be briefly described as comprising a sole edge holder plate which is preferably in the form of a double arm which fits about a swivel axis which is disposed upon the sole support. The double arm is provided with projections which rest against the upper sole edge of the ski boot to hold the ski boot to the sole holder. The double arm also carries a pull-down hook into which a heel cable can be inserted. The sole support also carries a projection which bears against the cable from below to give the cable an inclined direction which is greater than that which is effected by the cable attachment point on the ski boot. An additional projection is also provided on the edge holder plate which supports the cable from below.

The invention will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawing which is made a part of this specification.

The figure is a side elevational view of a portion of a ski boot and ski binding including the structure of this invention.

The invention will now be further described in detail by reference to the specific form thereof as set forth in the drawing which represents the best mode known to the inventor of carrying out his invention. In this con,- nection, however, the reader is cautioned to note that such specific form of invention as set forth herein is for illustrative purposes and for purposes of example only. Various changes and modifications can obviously be made within the spirit and scope of this invention.

Patented July 22, 1969 Now referring to the specific form of this invention as set forth in the drawing for a detailed description thereof, there is shown a ski binding 40 which includes a sole carrier 10. This structure can be made in accordance with Swedish Patent No. 174,381, for example.

Member 10 may be adjusted in a lateral direction with respect to a ski 12 in conventional manner. Member 10 is attached to a ski binding which includes a base plate 14, a toe support 16 and a cover plate 18.

Edge holder plate 24 is formed of a pair of arms which pivot about pin 22. Upper gripping member 26 is normally abuttable and in gripping relationship with the upper edge 20" of the sole and resting against it.

A cable holder member 28 is also provided which bears a turned-over portion 30 which is adapted to overlie the heel cable 40. A support 32 extending in the same direction as member 28 is also provided and is disposed forwardly with respect to members 28 and 30. There is also provided a support 34, in the form of a projecting flange, which is disposed behind member 24 and at a distance therefrom. Elements 28, 32, 30 and 34 form a guide for cable 40 which extends from the heel part of ski boot 20 to a cable tightener (not shown) which is disposed forward of the binding. Cable 40 is passed along the ski binding and is held thereby elements 32 and 34 in a downward position and held upwardly by element 28 and by the part of element 24 which rests against element 10 and is prevented from moving sidewardly by element 30. Cable 40 is made of conventional spring wire wound in spiral form so that it normally tends toward a straight extended position. Because of the construction of the parts, cable 40 exerts a twisting force on member 24 and thereby tends to turn this member counter-clockwise about pin 22. Thus member 26 is biased downwardly against element 20". Because of this pivoting motion, the clamping of sole 20' of the ski boot does not depend on sole thickness since the distance between element 26 and the cover plate 18 of the ski binding can be changed by pivotal motion of element 24. Obviously, the twisting movement exerted by cable 40 on element 24 is greater in proportion to increase of sole thickness. It is also noted that elements 28, 32 and 34 act as pull-down devices for the heel cable.

Because element 10 is released by forces acting crosswise with respect to the longitudinal direction of skis when these forces exceed a specific value, the ski boot 20 is freed from element 10 and elements 26 of element 24, while cable 40 is separated from ski boot 20.

I claim:

1. A sole edge holder for safety ski bindings, comprising in combination, a laterally adjustable sole carrier, a pin fixedto said sole carrier, an edge holder plate pivot- .ally mounted upon said pin and having a pair of arms located upon opposite sides of said pin, an upper gripping member, connected with one of said arms, a cable holding member connected with the other one of said arms, a support connected with said other arm, another support carried by said sole carrier and a cable connected with said cable holding member and guided by said two supports.

2. A sole edge holder for safety ski bindings in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cable holding member is located at the outer end of said other arm, wherein the first-mentioned support is located close to said cable holding member and directed to said one arm and wherein said cable holding member engages said cable from the top and the side, while the first-mentioned support engages the cable from the bottom.

3. A sole edge holder for safety ski bindings in ac- 3 cordance with claim 2, wherein the second-mentioned support is located substantially in alignment with said cable holding member and the first-mentioned support, said cable holding member being located between the two supports, the second-mentioned support being located substantially on the same level as the portion of the cable holding member engaging the cable from the top.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,259,701 10/1941 Legros 280-11.35

4 FOREIGN PATENTS 48,384 9/1930 Norway. 116,153 1/1946 Sweden. 188,035 3/1964 Sweden.

5 OTHER REFERENCES Gretsch and Co. German application Serial No. 1,015,- 728, printed Sept. 12, 1957.

10 LEO FRAGLIA, Primary Examiner M. L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner 

